Int. J. Engng Ed. Vol. 21, No. 5, p. 767, 2005
Printed in Great Britain.
0949-149X/91 $3.00+0.00
# 2005 TEMPUS Publications.
Editorial
The current issue contains the second instalment of the MATLAB and Simulink special issue papers. The
contributions range from applications in structural engineering, control systems, mechatronics, mechanical
engineering, civil engineering to educational considerations. The issue has once again been expertly edited
by Ahmad Ibrahim who is a wizard in obtaining contributions from many locations and sources. I am
deeply grateful to him for his successful compilation and eminently reliable and fruitful partnership with
IJEE. The second part of the issue contains papers in engineering education Collaborative Projects,
Automation Systems, Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Geotechnical Engineering.
With the current backlog of well over 100 papers awaiting publication we need to expand the issues and
include special and regular parts in almost every issue we publish.
An important news for us and for our Associate Editor Tom Kurfess is his appointment to an eminent
position as BMW Chair of Manufacturing, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Director, Carroll
A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center At the International Center for Automotive Research at
Clemson University.
I am pleased to cite below the announcement from Clemson University relating to his appointment.
Clemson University has named Thomas R. Kurfess, Ph.D., currently a professor of mechanical
engineering at Georgia Tech, as its first endowed chair for the new graduate program in automotive
engineering in conjunction with Clemson-ICAR (the Clemson University International Center for
Automotive Research) in Greenville.
Kurfess will fill the BMW Manufacturing Chair and will also serve as director of the Carroll A. Campbell
Jr. Graduate Engineering Center. His appointment is the first of four endowed chairs planned for the
program.
Kurfess earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
completing his doctorate in 1989, and was on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University prior to joining the
Georgia Tech faculty in 1994. His research focuses on manufacturing and on automation and mechatronics
with emphasis in system dynamics, control, metrology, precision system design and CAD/CAM/CAE
(Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing/Computer Aided Engineering.)
Clemson University Vice President for Research and Economic Development Chris Przirembel said
Kurfess is an outstanding addition to the Clemson mechanical engineering faculty and to the ClemsonICAR team.
`His distinguished professional career is characterized by excellent fundamental engineering research in
support of the global manufacturing industry. His research support is well-balanced between government
and the private sector,' Przirembel said.
`Joining Clemson is an exciting opportunity to do something that is not being done anywhere else.
Bringing academia and industry together at Clemson I-CAR is not only important to the state of South
Carolina but to our country and society as a whole,' said Kurfess. `This endeavor is enormous. Cars are
going to be here for a long time to come. The impact of Clemson-ICAR will be major and far reaching.'
Clemson is scheduled to begin its new M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs in automotive engineering with
an emphasis on systems integration in the fall of 2006. Students will begin their course of study on the
Clemson campus until completion of the Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center on the
Clemson-ICAR Greenville campus in the spring of 2007.
Congratulations Tom
Michael Wald
767